Does anyone have any experience using Zenfolio to host their website? I am considering using them, but would like to see if any photographer has or is currently using them before I commit.
Thanks,
Ed
Posted by Craig Strand on August 26, 2008 at 12:34 AM
Hi Ed,
I wanted to revamp my old website and decided to go with Zenfolio about 8 months ago. I was very pleased with not only the choices available in designing your site, but also how easy everything worked. I had a personal problem trying to get my URL switched over and the Tech's at Zenfolio were extremly helpful in getting it all working. Of course you probably have noticed you can use their online printers so that customers can just click, pay and receive shipment, or you can set up your own prices and have all orders come directly to you for processing. Their are a couple of other nice host out there, I would suggest you look over as many "other photographers" sites as possible and narrow your decision down to one that offers a site that appeals to you and your needs.
With Zenfolio, I have always had quick log-on response times and never encountered a time when they were down. Uploading to their site is quick and easy as well. If you care to check out my site go to...
www.craigstrandphotography.com
Best of Luck, Craig
Posted by Linnet Long on August 26, 2008 at 12:38 AM
I'm a newbie, just barely got on to Zenfolio. I found a lot of information by Googling zenfolio+smugmug+exposure manager together--a lot of discussion comparing the three, pros and cons, etc. Searching any one by itself will give you some info, but at least two together brings up a lot of useful discussion. I almost went with Exposure Manager, but decided to go the Zenfolio route, 1) for good-looking galleries and 2)processing with MPIX... I wish either of them had more photo-product offerings like cards, books and calendars.
If you want to take a look, head for LPhotoDesigns.zenfolio.com. My referral code will get you a whopping $5 off!!! If you decide to go that route, it's 4YQ-HHE-GTZ. Good luck, and I'd love to hear your experience.
Posted by Paul Wegemann on August 26, 2008 at 7:59 AM
Ed,
I used Zenfolio, and while happy with the ease of use and general design, I found the ability to customize my site very limiting. I switched to Smugmug which allows much more customization.
First I wanted to say how beautiful Linnet Long's website, hosted on Zenfolio, is.
My own choice of where to host my website came down to smugmug vs zenfolio. I have to say I had spent hours, days, months researching the question. I decided on smugmug after doing a trial of both sites and comparing, etc..
I am overwhelmed by the dedication of smugmug's customer service department. I was in serious trouble pointing my registration to smugmug because of some choices I had made previously on Yahoo. A smugmug customer service person worked with me for 3 days assisting me with what was essentially a chicken-fox-corn conundrum; I needed to move my domain name email off of Yahoo without losing email's in the transition and without impacting my website domain name which was already in many people's contact list. Personally I simply didn't have the technical expertise to do this on my own; I have seldom had as much help in a work environment from an IT person.
As an aside I settled on the newish beta Google Apps package for my domain name email, The package also includes a domain name home page, calendar, documents and I suppose more to come. I am very pleased, although it took me a bit of time to figure out all the bells and whistles.
Posted by Jamie Botdorf on August 26, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Ed - I started using Zenfolio this year (my first foray into setting up my own galleries/selling pics online). I've been very happy witih them. I spent a lot of time debating Smug Mug vs. Zenfolio, but ended up choosing Zenfolio because their pro package was cheaper (not sure if that is still true...I haven't compared the prices lately). I'm very happy with the service and the options (things like coupon codes, ability to sell custom products, etc.). I also have a "front" page site through 1&1 that I use as a general info web site, with links to my Zenfolio site for galleries/orders.
Posted by Edward Nunez on August 26, 2008 at 1:42 PM
I also used Zenfolio, and I am happy with them as well. It is of course not as customizable as smugmug may be, but the defined set of layouts works for me. I am not actively selling my work,
but it has the options of zenfolio handling the whole checkout, fulfillment and shipping/delivery...
or you can define it so you do the whole fulfillment, and shipping/delivery.
They seem to be working hard on responding to customer requests, and make a release every 3
to 4 months with new features.
Posted by Carson Wilcox on August 26, 2008 at 2:21 PM
Maybe a little off topic, but when you use Zenfolio or Smugmug or someone else for your galleries. Do they also host your URL or is that done elsewhere. I ask because I currently use godaddy for everything but I'm not very happy with the level of customization available with them.
I haven't used smugmug myself yet (though will be setting up a site there soon) and I think they have an option for you to point your domain there. Although, you can do the same through godaddy since that is where your domain is registered. Its actually very easy to do as there should be a domain forwarding option for your domain that you can then point to your gallery at smugmug.
Discussion
9 repliesThanks,
Ed
I wanted to revamp my old website and decided to go with Zenfolio about 8 months ago. I was very pleased with not only the choices available in designing your site, but also how easy everything worked. I had a personal problem trying to get my URL switched over and the Tech's at Zenfolio were extremly helpful in getting it all working. Of course you probably have noticed you can use their online printers so that customers can just click, pay and receive shipment, or you can set up your own prices and have all orders come directly to you for processing. Their are a couple of other nice host out there, I would suggest you look over as many "other photographers" sites as possible and narrow your decision down to one that offers a site that appeals to you and your needs.
With Zenfolio, I have always had quick log-on response times and never encountered a time when they were down. Uploading to their site is quick and easy as well. If you care to check out my site go to...
www.craigstrandphotography.com
Best of Luck, Craig
If you want to take a look, head for LPhotoDesigns.zenfolio.com. My referral code will get you a whopping $5 off!!! If you decide to go that route, it's 4YQ-HHE-GTZ. Good luck, and I'd love to hear your experience.
I used Zenfolio, and while happy with the ease of use and general design, I found the ability to customize my site very limiting. I switched to Smugmug which allows much more customization.
My own choice of where to host my website came down to smugmug vs zenfolio. I have to say I had spent hours, days, months researching the question. I decided on smugmug after doing a trial of both sites and comparing, etc..
I am overwhelmed by the dedication of smugmug's customer service department. I was in serious trouble pointing my registration to smugmug because of some choices I had made previously on Yahoo. A smugmug customer service person worked with me for 3 days assisting me with what was essentially a chicken-fox-corn conundrum; I needed to move my domain name email off of Yahoo without losing email's in the transition and without impacting my website domain name which was already in many people's contact list. Personally I simply didn't have the technical expertise to do this on my own; I have seldom had as much help in a work environment from an IT person.
As an aside I settled on the newish beta Google Apps package for my domain name email, The package also includes a domain name home page, calendar, documents and I suppose more to come. I am very pleased, although it took me a bit of time to figure out all the bells and whistles.
but it has the options of zenfolio handling the whole checkout, fulfillment and shipping/delivery...
or you can define it so you do the whole fulfillment, and shipping/delivery.
They seem to be working hard on responding to customer requests, and make a release every 3
to 4 months with new features.
You can check my zenfolio at:
http://www.craftedlight.com
Thanks
Carson
2 enthusiastic thumbs up!
I haven't used smugmug myself yet (though will be setting up a site there soon) and I think they have an option for you to point your domain there. Although, you can do the same through godaddy since that is where your domain is registered. Its actually very easy to do as there should be a domain forwarding option for your domain that you can then point to your gallery at smugmug.